Tuition-tortured students approach Lokayukta

Money-hungry teachers harass those not accepting tuition

 
In their separate complaints submitted to the Lokayukta and the Education Minister among others, 50 students have alleged that they were forced to take tuition and pay extra fee for the same by the college administration.

The students, on condition of anonymity, told Deccan Herald that the II PU students have paid Rs 7,000 as tuition fee and the I PU students paid Rs 4,000, apart from the donation ranging from Rs 3,000 to Rs 15,000 and monthly fee.

Mandatory classes

Chemistry Department Head R Muralikrishna, Physics Department Head and Vice-Principal M Naveena have made it mandatory for the College students to attend the tuition classes.

The students, majority of whom are from rural areas, alleged that they were harassed when they said they couldn’t pay the tuition fee.

Besides, Chairman of the education institute Usha Gangadhar and Principal Prof H G Kulakarni also have orally instructed the students to go in for tuition.

 Besides, they have also been threatened that they would not get marks in the practical exams if they made the issue public, the students complained.

While the official timings of the college is between 9 am and 1 pm the tuition classes are held between 7.30 and 8.30 in the morning and 1.15 and 3.15 in the afternoon.

The administration not only ‘abused’ the students who opposed its ‘autocratic’ move but also called their parents to warn them about debarring the students from the college if they didn’t attend the tuition classes.

Futile complaints

They said though they had submitted the complaint through courier 15 days back to the Chief Minister, Primary and High School Education Minister, Higher Education Minister, the Karnataka State Human Rights Commission and the Karnataka High Court, they didn’t receive any reply nor did any of the authorities concerned initiate any action.

The students also have written to the deputy commissioner, the deputy director of the Vocation Education and PU Education Department, the deputy superintendent of police and tahsildar. But their efforts were in vain.

The students said they have become a mute sufferers as they fear that their future will be in stake if they ‘leak’ the issue.

However, when contacted, Principal H G Kulakarni has denied the allegations as baseless. He said: “The classes are held from 7.30 am to 3.15 pm.”